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All recognized payment methods should be secure. You would probably want to choose a method based on the fees and targeted customers. For example, if you are targeting American, I do not see a reason to choose 2Checkout instead of Paypal. 2Checkout charges almost twice the Paypal, but very useful for the countries where Paypal isn't a viable solution.

All recognized payment methods should be secure. You would probably want to choose a method based on the fees and targeted customers. For example, if you are targeting American, I do not see a reason to choose 2Checkout instead of Paypal. 2Checkout charges almost twice the Paypal, but very useful for the countries where Paypal isn't a viable solution.

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The reason not to choose PayPal is that they offer no/little seller protection for hosts.

2CO offers some level of protection. Any good merchant account (where the client is using a credit/debit card) is going to be the best protection. They will absolutely go to bat for you. Unfortunately, most clients want to use PayPal these days, and most hosts aren't legitimate businesses, so they don't have access to real merchant accounts. I have actually thought about getting rid of PayPal entirely, but that would really limit my client base, unfortunately.

Here's a little example:

Somebody purchased a VPS from us for around $40 a few months ago. About 2 months later (after they had used the VPS for whatever they needed to do) they disputed the purchase in PayPal (with no reason). I submitted log after log showing that the service was delivered, access logs BY THE PURCHASER FROM THEIR IP, uptime stats, etc. I also noted that not a single support ticket had ever been submitted from the buyer. PayPal sided with the buyer, no questions asked. Didn't even contact me. I have had that happen several times. I was going to send this latest one to collections, but it really isn't worth the time or effort, for $80 or whatever.

With my merchant account, they will go to bat for me every time if I have evidence, and if they honor the purchaser, you can still dispute the claim directly with a Visa/Mastercard/American Express arbitrator. The only time I have ever lost a chargeback claim with my merchant account was when the card/number was legitimately stolen and used to purchase services. That happened twice if I recall, and you will lose those all the time regardless.

In my mind PayPal is one of the best methods of payment. Many people recognize and trust paypal around the world which makes it a rather easy choice. It also has a good dispute process and is very secure as far as hackers go.

AlertPay is another good choice however they aren't quiet as well known as PayPal which makes it slightly harder to use.

In the end I would recommend staying away from any other online payment centers because some of them aren't reliable or legal.

PS: Mail in Payments is also a great option as long as you have a good documentation process and keep track of the payments which come in.

Any payment dispute you have just reply with "Non tangible item" and poof dispute resolved

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Unfortunately, that isn't the case. That was 4 years ago. The policy has changed many times over since then.

Specifically:

The PayPal Seller Protection Policy said:

2. Coverage.

The following items/cases are not covered:

Non-tangible goods, services, gift vouchers, airline tickets, downloads, software licenses and other non-physical goods.
Items that cannot be shipped, such as vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, boats and aircrafts, and items picked up by the buyer.

PayPal Business Payments are not eligible for seller protection.

Payments for all other kind of items are covered by this Seller Protection Policy.

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...and...

Seller protection does not provide protection for:

Claims, chargebacks, or reversals for significantly not as described.
Intangible purchases (for example: services, online games, hotels).
Items that you deliver in person.
Transactions made through PayPal Direct Payment or Virtual Terminal.

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...and...

When you are not covered:

Items are picked up locally or delivered in person.
You sell services, intangible items, or digital goods.
You receive multiple payments for the same item.
You've received a claim or a chargeback, and the shipped item is found to be significantly different than it was described.
Example: You describe a new laptop, but send a used one.
PayPal Direct Payments
Virtual Terminal Payments
PayPal Business Payments
Items that are not shipped to the recipient shipping address on the transaction details page. If you originally ship the item to the shipping address but the item is later redirected to a different address, you will not be eligible for PayPal Seller protection. We therefore recommend not using a shipping service that is arranged by the buyer, so that you will be able to provide valid proof of shipping and delivery.